Newington, Oxfordshire
| Newington | |
 St Giles' parish church from the east |
|
  Newington |
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| Population | 104 (2001 census)[1] |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SU5796 |
| Civil parish | Newington |
| District | South Oxfordshire |
| Shire county | Oxfordshire |
| Region | South East |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Wallingford |
| Postcode district | OX10 |
| Dialling code | 01865 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Oxfordshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Wantage |
|
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Coordinates: 51°39′50″N 1°07′16″W / 51.664°N 1.121°W
Newington is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about 4.5 miles (7 km) north of Wallingford.
Archaeology
Archaeological work in the grounds of Newington House in the early 1980s and the latter half of the 2000s revealed extensive medieval occupation including at least one smithy.
Some residual ancient Roman pottery was recovered from medieval pits, indicating that there may have been a Roman farm or similar in the vicinity. Newington is about 3 miles (5 km) from the Roman town of Dorchester on Thames. The earliest in situ remains are evidence for plots from after the Norman conquest of England, dating from the late 11th and early 12th centuries. These may have been agricultural enclosures, such as paddocks, but were probably laid out as house-plots for tenants. By the early 12th century it seems that a smithy was built within one of the plots, followed in the 13th century by a larger smithy built on stone footings. This smithy was in use until the 14th century when it fell into disuse. Whether smithing was carried out elsewhere in Newington is still unknown, but by the 15th century the plot where the smithy formerly existed had been dug over and used for the disposal of rubbish. There is a 14th-century reference to Andrew le Smith from the attached hamlet of Brightwell;[2] probably Britwell Prior.
History
Moreau records that, in the Domesday Book, Neutone (Newington) was returned as worth 15 pounds a year, compared with only 5 pounds for the neighbouring parish of Berewic (Berrick), and 30 pounds for Bensingtone (Benson).[3]
He also recounts how a manor in the northern part of Berrick came to be joined to the parish of Newington early in the 11th century. The manor "fell into the hands of King Canute 'through forfeiture of a certain thegn'. It was begged of the King by his wife, Emma [of Normandy], and she passed it to the monks of Canterbury. This transaction swelled the parish of Newington which was a peculiar of the Archbishop of Canterbury",[4] and the manor came to be known as Berrick Prior, meaning the corn farm belonging to the Prior of Canterbury.[5]
As part of Newington, Berrick Prior "acquired an administrative status quite different from that of Berrick Salome, for even in the present [twentieth] century directories referred to it as 'the liberty of Berrick Prior' which reflected a sometime exemption from the jurisdiction of the Sheriff of Oxfordshire."[6] This high status ended in 1993 when Berrick Prior reverted to Berrick Salome parish as part of a local reorganisation of boundaries.
An Inclosure Award was made on 30 March 1815 relating to lands in the liberties of Berrick Prior and Newington and Holcombe, pursuant to Act 50 Geo III, c cxiv.[7]
Manor
The Manor House was built about 1664, and a third storey and a Corinthian porch were added to it in about 1777.[8] The former Rectory, now Beauforest House, is a Georgian house of five bays built about 1774.[8]
Parish church
The Church of England parish church of Saint Giles was built in the 12th century, its transepts were added about 1200 and the west tower and spire were added early in the 14th century.[9]
Gilbert Sheldon held the living of the parish for a time in the 17th century. Sheldon also simultaneously held the livings of Hackney, Ickford, Buckinghamshire and Oddington, Oxfordshire. After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Sheldon was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury in 1663.
References
- ↑ "Area: Newington CP (Parish): Parish Headcounts". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ↑ Ault 1972, p. 94.
- ↑ The Victoria County History, Vol 1. London: OUP, cited by Moreau 1968, p. 15.
- ↑ Moreau 1968, p. 13.
- ↑ Moreau 1968, p. 14.
- ↑ Moreau 1968, p. 13-14.
- ↑ The National Archives, Kew, MPLL 1/2
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 716.
- ↑ Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 715.
Sources
- Ault, Warren O. (1972). Open-Field Farming in Medieval England. Historical Problems Studies and Documents. London: George Allen & Unwin. pp. 94–95. ISBN 0-04-942105-0.
- Moreau, R.E. (1968). The Departed Village: Berrick Salome at the Turn of the Century. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-211186-8.
- Sherwood, Jennifer; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1974). Oxfordshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 683–684. ISBN 0-14-071045-0.
External links
Media related to Newington, Oxfordshire at Wikimedia Commons
